Eat White Rice

I've argued on this site in the past that brown rice is more likely to have dangerous pesticides than white rice, because the pesticides adhere to the outer coating of the rice which is stripped away to produce white rice. Now the FDA announced this week arsenic levels in various rice products, asserting there was no need for "immediate" concern but not dispelling the possibility of long term hazards. Here again, there is more danger with brown rice which contained from about 50 to 100 percent more arsenic than several types of white rice.

^^ rice contains protein that complements perfectly the protein in many beans, together making a high quality protein for vegans or anybody else.

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I love eating white rice and dals (lentil dishes with spices or just plain). I eat it almost daily. It's a great way to get protein and I like those carbs. Everything in moderation though. I like to try and eat more dal/vegetables as opposed to too much rice in a serving. Actually, if I go for several days without eating it, no matter what else I eat, I tend to feel a bit tired. I don't think it's just my imagination either.

I used to eat tons(3-4 servings) of white rice a day, and a few serving of other simple carbs. But now I've cut down to a serving of white rice a day, coupled with complex carbs and veggies. A little bit of white rice isn't too bad for you, and it tastes great with some dishes!

Please. 8% DV of protein vs 15% DV of Carbs (45g) per serving. You can't just look at the protein content and ignore the highest one which is carbs. I never said 0g protein and the fact is you don't eat plain white rice as a main source of protein.

If you still wanna troll, I ain't gonna bother. Go have some rice with soya sauce.

I love eating white rice and dals (lentil dishes with spices or just plain). I eat it almost daily. It's a great way to get protein and I like those carbs. Everything in moderation though. I like to try and eat more dal/vegetables as opposed to too much rice in a serving. Actually, if I go for several days without eating it, no matter what else I eat, I tend to feel a bit tired. I don't think it's just my imagination either.

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And yet the most common advice given to anybody with a family history of diabetes is to avoid rice and eat wheat (rotis) instead

In short: don't listen to the OP, however; if you're preparing to play a tennis match, then eating refined/processed carbs is probably fine. You're going to burn the energy off for sure, and may even benefit from the surge of simple sugars in your system. I would probably still recommend a more complex carb (whole grains), but in this instance it won't make a huge difference.

In general, white rice is a no-no. It's a processed/refined grain, meaning the bran and the germ have been removed, leaving only the endosperm of the grain. This effectively removes almost all of the nutritional benefits and leaves you with nothing but a pile of simple carbs that--unless engaging in immediate physical activity--will most likely be turned to fat.

If you're eating for nutrition, and not a specific performance aid, stick to the whole grains, and like I mentioned above, I would still stick to the whole grains even when preparing for a match.

Pesticides from foods
The amount of pesticides you're exposed to when eating end-product foods, whether organic or not, whether processed or whole, is usually not a concern. These are trace, trace, trace elements that remain--typically. Surprisingly, you are exposed to far more dangerous chemicals, pollutants, herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides in your every day life, in you home, and walking through just about everywhere. The extremely trace residue found on your produce is probably less than the chemicals used to treat the plastic bag it comes in, your carpet, your couch, the chair on the bus, the window cleaner ... you get the idea.

The arsenic ... Yeah. Don't worry about that either. "All of the data suggest levels that are not high enough to give us cause for concern for immediate or near-term effects,"said FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg.

Asians take the hulls of rice for a reason. I get that some peopel are fat - and for most sedentary people eating carbs will make them fatter.

But if you are going to eat rice (post workout for example to spike your intake of protien via insulin release) - white rice would be a good choice.

This idea that EVERYTHING you need has to have fiber is a ruse IMHO. It's not like if you eat nothing but fiber you will live forever. The Japanese smoke alot - and eat lots of white rice an they live longer then almost any other developed nation on earth..

As far as organics. ORGANICS CAN USE PESTICIDE. Organic != pesticide free. It just means they have to use organic pesticide.. Which is not always good for you..

Asian here, grew up eating white rice for breakfast and dinner. Lunch is usually away from home.
I'm going to die soon. Eating all that white rice is leading me to my grave. I'm 64.
The reason Chinese don't eat brown rice is we don't wanna eat the outside husk of the rice, knowing cows wallow in the mud the rice grows in.

Old school, the way my sis, bro, and parents cooked, you washed it 3-5 times, or until the water was crystal clear, then you rinsed it again, now ready to cook.
New school, my lazy way, pour into rice cooker, toss some h20 in, and wait for the light to go out.

Old school, the way my sis, bro, and parents cooked, you washed it 3-5 times, or until the water was crystal clear, then you rinsed it again, now ready to cook.
New school, my lazy way, pour into rice cooker, toss some h20 in, and wait for the light to go out.

And yet the most common advice given to anybody with a family history of diabetes is to avoid rice and eat wheat (rotis) instead

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I like rotis as well, but eat rice fairly often too. Luckily, I have no diabetes to contend with. It's all about moderation. Rice is really a great food in many respects. It just goes great with a lot of my favorite Indian foods. Fortunately, my physicals are going really well.

You pretty much cannot eat indian food without rice. I don't eat it more then once or twice a year - but when I do - rice.

In the US - its pretty clear though that Indian food is not good for you. Both indian men and women start off really thin but get quite chubby. And its a rather awful kind of weight gain - all in the belly/stomach area - on both women and men.

I don't know what they do different then Japanese - but despite the rice intake they end up really different. You very rarely see Japanese women or men with that kind of weight gain.

You pretty much cannot eat indian food without rice. I don't eat it more then once or twice a year - but when I do - rice.

In the US - its pretty clear though that Indian food is not good for you. Both indian men and women start off really thin but get quite chubby. And its a rather awful kind of weight gain - all in the belly/stomach area - on both women and men.

I don't know what they do different then Japanese - but despite the rice intake they end up really different. You very rarely see Japanese women or men with that kind of weight gain.

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GuyClinch, a LOT of Indian folks here in the U.S. sadly gravitate towards very bad diets. Indian diets are no guarantee of a healthy life if you eat a lot of the wrong Indian foods, don't exercise, and then on top of all that you sit at a desk most of the day and eat a lot of bad American foods as well! Indians in the U.S. often eat a lot of meat, Indian food from restaurants (lot of oil and meat dishes too), and then on top of that they eat out a lot and also consume a lot of the usual culprits. So, they are really not eating a "healthy" Indian diet in any way. Of course, you can have a very unhealthy vegetarian diet, but it just tends to be much more difficult (oil, butter, sugar, soft drinks, fried food, etc.). Plus, if you're too sedentary and don't exercise much, of course you're going to be very out of shape by even 30-40. Meanwhile, I exercise daily, am pure vegetarian, eat plenty of rice, vegetables, and fruits, consume moderate dairy foods, avoid too much sugar, don't drink alcohol except maybe once every six months, do not eat too much oil/butter, and avoid fried/junk food (except very rarely). Doing all of that all my life has allowed me to be 45 now, but as fit as I was in high school. Plus, I exercise religiously. You can't just eat what you want and sit at a desk most of the day and expect to be fit in any way. My doctor says that whatever I'm doing has been working extremely well. It's been an "all of the above" approach, but I know that rice has been a very important staple of my diet.

In the US - its pretty clear though that Indian food is not good for you. Both indian men and women start off really thin but get quite chubby. And its a rather awful kind of weight gain - all in the belly/stomach area - on both women and men.

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It is partly genetic due to a predisposition towards metabolic syndrome. One theory is that it is due to a mutation which happened which helped people to survive starvation due to famines causing the body to quickly store fat to survive bad times

It is partly genetic due to a predisposition towards metabolic syndrome. One theory is that it is due to a mutation which happened which helped people to survive starvation due to famines causing the body to quickly store fat to survive bad times

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Hmm well there have been bad famines in China many times in their past history. It still could be partially genetic, but I have doubts about the famine theory. Regardless of genetic predispositions I think most adults in modern industrialized societies would benefit from the mantra - eat less, exercise more.

Hmm well there have been bad famines in China many times in their past history. It still could be partially genetic, but I have doubts about the famine theory. Regardless of genetic predispositions I think most adults in modern industrialized societies would benefit from the mantra - eat less, exercise more.

Chinese always had rice. What they lacked was availible meat and protein foods. You see all those poor people with fat bellies, and stick thin everything else.
Like Somalia, Biafra, and every poor country.

Parboiled rice might sound like it's precooked, but it's not. Instead, it's processed quite differently from other types of rice. The resulting grain is cooked and served just as you would white or brown rice. However, because of the special processing, parboiled rice is a better source of fiber, calcium, potassium and vitamin B-6 than regular white rice.

Rice Basics
Although there are thousands of varieties of rice available, only a few are commonly consumed in the United States, and each type offers its own range of nutritional benefits. In general, all rice is virtually free of fat, sodium, gluten and cholesterol. It is low in calories and sugar, and it naturally contains fiber, protein, iron, thiamin and niacin, but the type of rice you eat and the way you prepare it will determine how nutritious it is.

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White Rice
Plain white rice, at 242 calories per cup, offers far fewer nutritional benefits than brown rice. With each cup containing 3 milligrams of iron, 24 of magnesium, 69 of phosphorus and 54 of potassium, plus trace amounts of thiamine, riboflavin and niacin and 180 micrograms of folate, it is more nutritious than most types of pasta, but less nutritious than many other grains. In order to make white rice more desirable to consumers, more than 70 percent of the white rice sold in the United States is enriched with extra folic acid, thiamine, niacin and iron, according to Clemson University.

Enriched White Rice
If you are pregnant or nursing, enriched white rice may be more beneficial to you than brown rice. Although it contains only .6 grams of fiber and fewer nutrients per 1-cup serving than brown rice, it gives you approximately 215 micrograms of folate, while a cup of brown rice only contains 8. The average adult needs 400 micrograms of folate per day, but a pregnant woman needs 600 to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly. Its protein and calorie contents are comparable to those of brown rice.

In short: don't listen to the OP, however; if you're preparing to play a tennis match, then eating refined/processed carbs is probably fine. You're going to burn the energy off for sure, and may even benefit from the surge of simple sugars in your system. I would probably still recommend a more complex carb (whole grains), but in this instance it won't make a huge difference.

In general, white rice is a no-no. It's a processed/refined grain, meaning the bran and the germ have been removed, leaving only the endosperm of the grain. This effectively removes almost all of the nutritional benefits and leaves you with nothing but a pile of simple carbs that--unless engaging in immediate physical activity--will most likely be turned to fat.

If you're eating for nutrition, and not a specific performance aid, stick to the whole grains, and like I mentioned above, I would still stick to the whole grains even when preparing for a match.

Pesticides from foods
The amount of pesticides you're exposed to when eating end-product foods, whether organic or not, whether processed or whole, is usually not a concern. These are trace, trace, trace elements that remain--typically. Surprisingly, you are exposed to far more dangerous chemicals, pollutants, herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides in your every day life, in you home, and walking through just about everywhere. The extremely trace residue found on your produce is probably less than the chemicals used to treat the plastic bag it comes in, your carpet, your couch, the chair on the bus, the window cleaner ... you get the idea.

The arsenic ... Yeah. Don't worry about that either. "All of the data suggest levels that are not high enough to give us cause for concern for immediate or near-term effects,"said FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg.

I like white rice. I also love pasta. And drink whole milk. And I'm not fat.

Maybe it's magic? Or because I drink bourbon? Or black coffee? Or maybe this is nonsense talk and it depends on total calories in vs. total calories burned? Naw, it can't be that simple. Must be magic.

I like white rice. I also love pasta. And drink whole milk. And I'm not fat.

Maybe it's magic? Or because I drink bourbon? Or black coffee? Or maybe this is nonsense talk and it depends on total calories in vs. total calories burned? Naw, it can't be that simple. Must be magic.

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Oh, I would argue it is magic! But the magic is far too complex for the average person to understand, that's why we have wizards (scientists). What's the shame is that the lay person (you and me, not wizards) are predisposed to believe stories (anecdotes, like yours) and not data (magic).

I like white rice. I also love pasta. And drink whole milk. And I'm not fat.

Maybe it's magic? Or because I drink bourbon? Or black coffee? Or maybe this is nonsense talk and it depends on total calories in vs. total calories burned? Naw, it can't be that simple. Must be magic.

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It is not about magic. It is just about trying to make a bad situation slightly better.

I like white rice. I also love pasta. And drink whole milk. And I'm not fat.

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How old are you? Insulin resistance is related to age - where more older folks slowly gain insulin resistance. Going back to Indians in the US - they have a rather ugly weight gain around their waist - this kind of weight gain is most often related to insulin resistance..

I wouldn't blame this weight gain on the rice - since the Japanese who also eat large amounts of rice have a smaller problem. But the Indians are the only culture I know who load up with rice and bread - in the same meal.

Carbs might not inevitably lead to massive weight gain but lots of rice, bread and sweets (Indian deserts are INSANELY sweet IMHO) seem to be like a triple whammy..and seem to trigger insulin resistance. Att he sametime most Indians under age 30 seem quite thin.

OTOH the Japanese girls I know are pretty sweet avoidant. They might like sweets but their idea of eating them seems to be taking a bite and trying to convince you to eat the rest. I kid you not..

Weight gain around the waist? That tends to be due to a lack of exercise, especially no core work. As you age, all those years of a sedentary lifestyle really show up for some people that sit at desks everyday. Drinking alcohol and drinking beer can definitely produce a "beer gut" in many people too. Those are prime culprits, not rice and breads especially. White rice, brown rice, and breads are a great part of a balanced diet, as long as you get enough protein and everything else you need. I'm 45 and rice is a staple for me. I have never had fitness issues, but of course that takes work and maintenance. My point is that you can eat plenty of carbs, including rice as I have, but still stay very fit. I've experienced the same diet in essence from age 15 until 45, so I've seen it play out for thirty years plus now. On the other hand, the vast majority of my friends that have kept their diets from 15-45 are much less fit by 45 (lots of burgers/fast food/chicken). I have a stronger core now than I did back then, but I've worked at it.

The Japanese are lucky. I so much as look at rice and I gain 20 lbs. due to my insulin resistance and my bodies complete intolerance of carbs. Like a fool, I tried exercising to lose the weight. Big mistake. Exercising only made me fatter.

In the past 6 months I've been drinking more olive oil, eating more bacon, and most importantly trying not to exercise at all and eating zero carbs. Seems to be working. So far I've lost 5 lbs.

^^ Not correct. Arsenic and lead that concentrate in the outer portion of the rice are commonly found in soils that organic rice is grown in as well. Even thedailygreen website notes that using organic rice is NOT a reliable way to avoid excessive arsenic levels.

There is arsenic in most rice and many other products as well. It all goes back to what are acceptable levels for human consumption, if it's "acceptable" at any level at all. This article touches on some of the reasons arsenic gets into rice and other foods as well.

Though arsenic can enter soil or water due to weathering of arsenic-containing minerals in the earth, humans are more to blame than Mother Nature for arsenic contamination in the U.S. today, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The U.S. is the world’s leading user of arsenic, and since 1910 about 1.6 million tons have been used for agricultural and industrial purposes, about half of it only since the mid-1960s. Residues from the decades of use of lead-arsenate insecticides linger in agricultural soil today, even though their use was banned in the 1980s. Other arsenical ingredients in animal feed to prevent disease and promote growth are still permitted. Moreover, fertilizer made from poultry waste can contaminate crops with inorganic arsenic.

Rice is not the only source of arsenic in food. A 2009-10 study from the EPA estimated that rice contributes 17 percent of dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic, which would put it in third place, behind fruits and fruit juices at 18 percent, and vegetables at 24 percent. A more complete study by the European Food Safety Authority found cereal products could account for more than half of dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic, mainly because of rice.

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Though brown rice has nutritional advantages over white rice, it is not surprising that it might have higher levels of arsenic, which concentrates in the outer layers of a grain. The process of polishing rice to produce white rice removes those surface layers, slightly reducing the total arsenic and inorganic arsenic in the grain.

In brown rice, only the hull is removed. Arsenic concentrations found in the bran that is removed during the milling process to produce white rice can be 10 to 20 times higher than levels found in bulk rice grain.